Nuns Who Won’t Stop Nudging [Corporations]

[Dale_M]

Long before Occupy Wall Street, the Sisters of St. Francis were quietly staging an occupation of their own. In recent years, this Roman Catholic order of 540 or so nuns has become one of the most surprising groups of corporate activists around.

The nuns have gone toe-to-toe with Kroger, the grocery store chain, over farm worker rights; with McDonald’s, over childhood obesity; and with Wells Fargo, over lending practices. They have tried, with mixed success, to exert some moral suasion over Fortune 500 executives, a group not always known for its piety.

”We want social returns, as well as financial ones,” Sister Nora said, strolling through the garden behind Our Lady of Angels, the convent here where she has worked for more than half a century. She paused in front of a statue of Our Lady of Lourdes. “When you look at the major financial institutions, you have to realize there is greed involved.”

nytimes.com/2011/11/13/business/sisters-of-st-francis-the-quiet-shareholder-activists.html

 

[Bearontherun]

It is nice to see these nuns actively promoting improvements and social awareness for good causes.

That said, even though a cause is supported by nuns, we should still do our due diligence before adding our own support. I have seen that there are still some other nuns online promoting the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

 

[Wolseley]

Anybody besides me remember when nuns felt their primary job was prayer…and if they did anything else at all, it was stuff like teaching little kids the Faith or acting as nurses in Catholic hospitals?

 

[NewEnglandPriest]

Anybody besides me remember when nuns felt their primary job was prayer…and if they did anything else at all, it was stuff like teaching little kids the Faith or acting as nurses in Catholic hospitals?

Depends on the Order. Cloistered orders had prayer as their “primary” duty. However, religious orders have always served some kind of need for the Church community whether it be education, health care, aiding the poor, etc. I fail to see how this is out of step with the traditional role of religious orders.

 

[stinkcat_14]

Anybody besides me remember when nuns felt their primary job was prayer…and if they did anything else at all, it was stuff like teaching little kids the Faith or acting as nurses in Catholic hospitals?

No, I can’t remember that. I think if you look at history, nuns have been engaged in a large variety of activities.